Going away for Christmas as a Christmas hater

[Lottapianos]

I know - August, heatwave, last thing we want to be thinking about ..... However, DP and I due something to look forward to and I'm thinking about booking a Christmas break, maybe UK, maybe short haul. No kids, just us, so nothing kiddie friendly

The thing is, we both hate Christmas so definitely don't want to stay in a hotel where Christmas is a BIG DEAL all day long. Ditto nothing involving Christmas markets etc. Have you gone away for Christmas and managed to keep it low key and avoid the palaver? Please share your stories!

Go to a country that doesn't celebrate Christmas?

I suspect most ppl that go away for Christmas want it to be Christmassy. I think it will be hard to avoid-

Maybe an airbnb instead of a hotel?

Just out of interest I can see being fed up or indifferent but hating it is such a strong feeling-did something happen to trigger that?

Turkey is a Muslim country. You could go there for Christmas. (Not joking, no pun)

We spent Christmas in North Cyprus once and it was great, would thoroughly recommend. Some restaurants were acknowledging that it was Christmas and serving a special occasion menu (not roast turkey) and lots of places had lights, but no over the top decorations or Christmas music or things like crackers and tinsel, so that it felt somewhat festive without being in your face.

Even many non-Christian majority countries will make a nod towards celebrating Christmas, especially if they are tourist destinations, so if you really hate Christmas then I think your choices are otherwise going to be limited to renting something self catered and spending several days there and not going out to eat or drink.

Yes, have gone to Estepona region in Spain. A Spanish working town. They do a nod towards Christmas in the town for sure, but Jan 6th is their day, the day of the Kings where the kids are No.1 and there is a parade for them, it is actually very nice, although I've no kids myself and do enjoy kid free zones!

We use an apartment. Breakfast on the terrace, lunch out and dinner in the apartment to avoid the Christmas stuff which is more evident at night. We do venture out several times at night but not every night.

Weather can be mixed, but can also be spectacular. Just being away from all the Christmas crap at home is worth its weight in gold, together with brightness not dark dreary gloom, and a top up of Vitamin D.

Wherever you go there will be a bit of a Christmas vibe but more marked in some countries rather than others, and you can ignore it. That's not really possible at home.

We've done Morocco (just outside Marrakech) a few times over Xmas.

0 Xmas bollocks, fantastic weather.

Try the Mandarin Oriental if you want to be close to the city, or villas Fawakay.

Went to furtuventura was mid 20's. V relaxing and good value. Most of the other tourists were German pensioners!

Marrakesh is fantastic in late December - altho can be cool in evenings - and for obvious reasons they just don't bother with Xmas. We had one of our best ever late December holidays there.
But even in more traditionally Christian places, Xmas is just less stressful than in UK. So, for example, museums & art galleries are open on 25th in Amsterdam, Venice & Vienna. Xmas Day spent in the Rijksmuseum was another one of my best evers!

Seriously, just book something and go and ignore all of those people who say you have to eat horrible turkey/visit your relatives/ have prescribed "fun"..... there are no rules, just do whatever you like.

Watching with interest because I’m thinking of going away this Christmas, though not sure where yet. I feel a bit miserable to be leaving my family but I’m not sure that they give much of a shit about it anyway, it’s always me who organises it since my mum died. I don’t really enjoy the day itself, or the bit afterwards - I’m always desperate for the new year to start. I do love all the seasonal stuff but the commercial side and shitty TV can GTF.

Went to Marrakesh 10 years ago over Christmas/NY and it was great, almost completely free of anything Christmassy. Currently pondering the Canaries or maybe Madeira.

', for example, museums & art galleries are open on 25th in Amsterdam, Venice & Vienna.'

Ooh, good to know! A European city break could be a good plan

MrsMitford3, maybe hate is a bit strong! I really can't stand how it gets shoved down your throat from October onwards. It really gets me down. We don't have great relationships with our families, and it's a hard time of year from that POV. I actively look forward to January when Christmas is over for another year and you can reflect on what you want to stop, start or continue for the new year

I went to Dahab one year and it wasn’t very Christmassy. There were quite a few German and Russian tourists in the hotel so they made quite a big deal of Christmas Eve - a big banquet in a marquee with a belly dancer etc. It was an all inclusive hotel and I’m not sure what food would have been available if you didn’t want to go the the marquee thing, but I’m sure if we’d gone out for dinner we would have avoided Christmas altogether quite easily.

Christmas Day itself was pretty low key - at one point a skinny Arabic dude in a cheap Santa costume came round the pool on a camel and threw some sweets around half heartedly.

It was a really touristy place so they put stuff on but the locals were Muslim and it would have been easy to avoid I think. We spent the night of the 23rd climbing mount sinai arriving back mid morning on Christmas Eve.

it was just a cheap and cheerful winter sun break for us but it was a fun holiday.

I've been away at Christmas over a dozen times. In UK, Christmas Day is best day of year to city sightsee without crowds. Wonderful driving round empty streets e.g. Edinburgh,which is also handy for other scenic jaunts to keep you occupied. There are hotels in UK that are no or low-key Xmas,e.g Premier Inn. Problem is finding non-Xmas lunch & dinner because so many in UK want to eat out. No problem if you are good at picnics or book a holiday home. Haven't found a problem in business class hotels in other Western European countries. Locals all want to eat at home.

We go away (just me and DH, no dc) every other year or so. I love Christmas and he doesn't care either way so we've done OTT and very low key Christmas places.

Reykjavik was lovely - cold and we had some snow but was a very relaxed 'grown up' Christmas.
It was expensive though, and as they celebrate on 24th our choices for a restaurant on Christmas Day were limited.

Also, we spent a Christmas trip travelling around the north of Scotland and found some of the islands showed very little sign of the season at all (Mull is the one I particularly remember).